Michel was also understood to deny advocating Nagorno-Karabakh’s return under Azerbaijani rule during his trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held in Brussels on May 22.
Aliyev said after the summit that he and Pashinian agreed to open a “Zangezur corridor” that will consist of a road and railway connecting Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. He had demanded earlier that people and cargo using them be exempt from Armenian border controls.
Pashinian and other Armenian officials denied Aliyev’s claim, saying that Yerevan will not open any extraterritorial corridors. They insisted that the two sides reached understandings only on conventional transport links.
“Both parties confirmed [at Brussels] there were no extraterritorial claims with regard to future transport infrastructure. Speculation to the contrary is regrettable,” Michel’s spokesman, Barend Leyts, said in a statement.
Commenting on “the past days' tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” Leyts also sought to clarify Michel’s remarks made right after the Brussels talks.
“President Michel's statement on outcomes of the leaders meeting on 22 May should not be interpreted as favoring a predetermined outcome of discussions either way,” he said.
The European Union’s top official said early on May 23 that “the rights and security of the ethnic Armenian population in Karabakh” should also be addressed during upcoming negotiations on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty.
Armenian opposition leaders and Karabakh’s leadership denounced the remark. They accused Michel of undermining the Karabakh Armenians’ right to self-determination by portraying them as an ethnic minority not eligible for independent statehood.
“In President Michel's opinion, all core issues that had led to the first Nagorno-Karabakh war as well as to the renewed hostilities in 2020 will need to be addressed by all stakeholders to create conditions for lasting and equitable peace,” stressed Leyts.
Late last week, Aliyev warned the Armenian side against insisting on an agreement on Karabakh’s status. He said Baku could respond by laying claim to Armenian territory. The Armenian Foreign Ministry denounced the threat.